Women’s Basketball: BU defeats Navy, opens Patriot League play with win
Featured image by Jacob Ireland
By Sam Robb O’Hagan
BOSTON — BU just keeps finding a way.
First it was an 80-77 win over Harvard on December 9, in which the Terriers (9-3, 1-0 PL) blew an 18-point lead late in the third quarter but forced two turnovers in the final 30 seconds to scrape by. Then, an 83-80 overtime win at Northeastern on December 22, in which BU trailed by as many as 17 but got career-highs from two players who made critical shots down the stretch.
On Wednesday, it was a 62-51 win at Case Gym against Navy (4-8, 0-1 PL) in the team’s Patriot League opener.
Navy forced 23 turnovers, 15 steals and, after trailing by as many as 15, roared within four points twice in the second half.
On both occasions, BU was forced to call a timeout. And on both occasions, it came out and responded.
“We handle that well,” head coach Melissa Graves said. “Where we kind of stop the bleeding.”
Including a December 12 win against Division III Emmanuel, BU has won four in a row. In the three wins against DI opponents, they’ve clawed out by a combined 15 points.
“You know, looking back, I think we’ve made really good defensive plays,” Graves said. “That’s been the difference in our wins; the defensive side of the ball.”
Navy trailed by 10 at the break, but pulled within four halfway through the third quarter after freshman sensation Zanai Barnett-Gay — the leading scorer in the Patriot League — scored nine points in the opening minutes of the period.
Two of Barnett-Gay’s baskets came off steals, one directly after she had missed a jumper. The Midshipmen invited chaos throughout the game, aggressively swiping at balls when BU ran offense in the halfcourt and hunting steals in transition moments. Navy’s offense struggled in the halfcourt throughout the game and wanted to play in transition.
“Navy is one of the fastest teams in the league right now, the way they play in transition,” Graves said. “We knew that this was going to be a really fast paced game.”
Barnett-Gay intercepted a BU pass for a runaway layup at the other end to trim the lead to four with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Graves called an immediate timeout.
The Terriers adapted. They came out with a full-court press of their own, taking the game out of the halfcourt and adding to the chaos. It worked. BU forced five turnovers through the rest of the quarter, went on an 8-0 run out of the timeout and led by 13 heading into the fourth.
“Thinking about the time and score, thinking about what the team needs at the time, is it to push pace or is it to slow down?” Graves said. “I thought this was a good game for us to learn and figure that piece out.”
When Navy cut the lead down to four again with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter — following a Barnett-Gay 3-pointer and a transition layup off a steal from forward Lizzie Holder — BU responded by slowing everything down.
Enter Caitlin Weimar.
The Terriers went to the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year directly out of the timeout, feeding her for an easy layup in the post. When Weimar next found the ball in the post a couple of minutes later, the Midshipmen immediately double-teamed her, leaving junior guard Alex Giannaros wide open at the top of the key.
Weimar found her co-star, and Giannaros drained the 3-pointer. With one more layup from Weimar at 1:45, BU led 59-51 after a quick 7-3 run. Game.
“Just trying to keep a level head and just playing my game,” Weimar said. “Not really focusing on (the pressure of clutch time), just knowing that I can make my move and go to the basket.”
The Terriers keep finding different ways to win. But Weimar has been the constant that has driven it all.
She finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds — her fourth-straight double-double. She is now the second-leading scorer in the conference.
Critically for BU, though, the win was not just about Weimar. Giannaros added 11 points and four steals. Senior guard Kelsi Mingo dropped a career-high 15 and came up with three steals of her own.
Despite committing 23 turnovers and surrendering 15 steals, the Terriers forced 20 and came up with 12 themselves.
11 days after a dramatic win at Northeastern, BU found a way. Again.
“Offensively, you know, it’s been a little highs and lows as far as getting that flow, and I definitely want to fix the turnovers,” Graves said.
“But, I never worry as much offensively as, you know, can we get the stops defensively, and I thought we’ve done those in the wins that we’ve had recently.”